Driving To Work Poem by Tricia Mae Chua

Driving to work
I catch sight of her
with her back towards me
making her way up
the noisy sidewalk
beside tall stone walls
and barbed wire fences
past the dainty white bougainvilleas
lacing themselves above
a deep green iron gate.

A head of white
on stooping shoulders
aged and worn with time
each step a careful note
on the gray pavement

Where to?
The ground whispers.
Beyond the road,
over the cracked patches
of dusty earth,
past the dead cat
and the pile of litter
gathering flies
in the bright morning air.

How much further?
the purple vines call out
turning, twisting
over and under
their tangled perch
feeling filtered sun
through smoke
from the rushing traffic.

Not much further
almost there
almost home
then I turned a corner
and she was gone.

(Jan.31,2004,12: 50 pm / Philippines)